Why ‘Godfather 4′
has become a bore

Andy Garcia speaks at 'Days' junket

With a career as lengthy as Andy Garcia’s, it’s natural the star of “5 Days of War” took a moment to look back during the Anchor Bay Films’ Regency Hotel press junket Wednesday. Of all his movies, what do people want to talk about the most?

“When is ‘Godfather 4’?” Garcia said. “That is pretty much a daily thing in my life. Which is a curious thing because there’s isn’t a ‘Godfather 4′ — and there’s a demand for it. But (Francis Ford Coppola) isn’t interested, at least he wasn’t last week. That’s the number one question I get.”

The Dark Knight doesn’t rise until the Federal Aviation Administration says so. A helicopter rigged to shoot aerial sequences on the Pittsburgh set of “The Dark Knight Rises” failed a routine inspection from the FAA’s local representatives, and was temporarily grounded while the operator made necessary modifications. The operator also flew in a second rig, apparently to make up for lost time — which enabled the sequence to wrap last weekend as scheduled.

While the film is far from dead, Lionsgate’s “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” looks as if it is far off from getting started anytime soon. Expected to shoot sometime in the fourth quarter of 2011, the pic’s production start date has now been moved to early 2012. The pushback comes as the pic has found difficulty casting its femme lead, which has already seen several actresses pass on the role.

The “Modern Family” gang is getting down-home for the show’s third season premiere on Sept. 21. The entire cast is in Jackson Hole, Wyo., this week, shooting at a ranch facility for a seg that involves the extended family heading out for a dude-ranch vacation. Rico Rodriguez was said to be particularly excited about the chance to ride horses and have some fun during the downtime. The episode is said to have a fair amount of equine guest stars, as well as Tim Blake Nelson as a ranch hand.

“The Debt” premiered at last year’s Toronto film fest and was originally slotted to open last New Year’s Eve. What was helmer John Madden’s reaction when he heard that Miramax had been sold and his movie was in limbo? ” ‘Oh fuck’ is the answer to your question,” Madden answered at Friday’s Four Seasons press junket. “But then our great good fortune was that Universal-Focus bought the movie. Focus releases it here and Universal everywhere else. We were reborn but that doesn’t matter, except that Jessica Chastain, who was an unknown, is now widely known.” – — Stephen Schaefer